Student Assessments

In every classroom, assessments are used to evaluate what students know and what they can do. In Wyoming, school and district assessments are developed locally. From grades three through 11, Wyoming students take a variety of state standardized tests. Together these tests are used to measure student achievement and growth.

school-level

district-level

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Classroom quizzes and tests given by teachers to assess general daily learning;

Schools may also create school-wide/grade-level assessment system.

Wyoming districts use computerized tests to gauge how well students are learning reading, writing, math, and science;

WY-TOPP

Students in grades 3 through 10 take the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress in reading and math. Students in grades 4, 8, and 10 also take the science portion of the WY-TOPP test.

WY-TOPP results are used to evaluate school performance. Schools rated by performance levels gain an understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses according to these tests. Districts use their own methods to directly evaluate individual students.

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) works with a major testing company, American Institutes for Research (AIR), to craft the WY-TOPP. The WDE and Wyoming teachers are intimately involved in item development to ensure questions accurately measure the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards and are grade and population appropriate.

ACT

Students in grade 11 take the ACT. This standardized test is an indicator of college readiness and student achievement.

ACT Inc., creates various assessments including the ACT WorkKeys, which Wyoming uses in the Hathaway Scholarship Provisional Opportunity Level determination. These are off-the-shelf assessments which are created and maintained by the ACT. Neither Wyoming teachers nor the WDE have involvement in the development or content of these assessments.

Assessment Task Force

The Wyoming Assessment Task Force was formed in the spring of 2015 to study options for future statewide assessments and to make recommendations to the Wyoming State Board of Education and legislative committees. Their work was presented to the State Board on September 23, 2015 and to the Joint Education Committee on October 30, 2015. During their 2016 Budget Session, the Wyoming Legislature passed the Statewide Student Assessment Act, which was based largely on the recommendations of the task force.